Eagles acquire second pick, now must weigh up QBs

The Philadelphia Eagles have shaken up the NFL offseason once again this afternoon by trading for the number two overall pick in this year’s draft. The trade made with the Browns cost the Eagles a large sum, this year’s first, third and fourth round picks as well as a first round pick next year and a second round pick in 2018. In return the Eagles get the number two overall selection and a 2017 fourth rounder from Cleveland. In an offseason that many thought would be quiet the Eagles have made another huge splash.

What does this mean for the future of the Eagles and what does this mean for draft day? In Howie Roseman’s press conference today he made it very clear what the Eagles plan on doing with the number two pick. When asked if they would draft a quarterback Howie simply stated “yes.” Goff or Wentz? Well, that’s up to the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams will pick either Goff or Wentz and the Eagles will, as it seems, pick the leftover QB. However, Howie Roseman is confident the Eagles will get the guy they want at number two.

There seems to be a consensus among NFL analysts that the Rams will select Goff with the number one overall selection in this draft. That will leave the Eagles with selecting North Dakota St product Carson Wentz at number two. The Eagles brought in both Goff and Wentz for pre-draft visits and clearly liked both of them enough to move up to grab one of them in the draft. And if the Eagles are convinced Wentz has the ability and mentality to be the franchise quarterback for them, then no price was too high, they had to get him.

So, let’s say for arguments sake the rumors are true and we get Carson Wentz at number two. Now what? Well, Howie also addressed this during his press conference, he said Sam Bradford is the starting quarterback going into this year, and they have told Sam that. Howie stated that he told Bradford what was going on with the trade and that they planned on taking a quarterback with the pick when Bradford arrived this morning for workouts. Bradford stayed through the day and seems content on remaining at the voluntary workouts.

If Sam Bradford is the quarterback for the Eagles this season, what does that mean for Wentz? It would appear that the Eagles are hoping to repeat what transpired in Green Bay the year Aaron Rodgers was selected in the first round or even what the Eagles did with Donavon McNabb and Doug Pederson in McNabb’s rookie campaign. If Bradford is willing, he could be a perfect mentor for Carson as he makes the transition from college to the pros. Sam is a former number one pick and rookie of the year and has been dealt a bad hand as far as injuries. He’s had plenty of ups and downs in his career and has dealt with them fairly well and his experiences will benefit Wentz. Bradford will not be able to teach Wentz the offense, but that is what Chase Daniel is here to do. Essentially, Bradford and Daniel combined will be Carson’s mentors through his transition. I don’t think Wentz could’ve been dealt two better mentors to get him ready for the NFL lifestyle and get him ready to run Doug Pederson’s offense for years to come.

The acquisition of the number two pick may not make leave much to the imagination on Draft Night but it has opened up many questions for the Eagles this season and beyond. What the Eagles and their fans have to hope for is a good season from Bradford in 2016 while Wentz (or Goff) sits, learns and gets ready to take over in 2017 and becomes the face of the franchise, entering the Eagles into an equivalent Andy Reid-Donovan McNabb era. Only this time resulting in a Super Bowl, and Howie Roseman being the smartest man in the world (well, our Eagles world).

One Comment

[…] So with a little shock and a lot of excitement overwhelming my afternoon, I heard general manager Howie Rosenan quickly come out to announce that the Eagles will use the second overall selection to draft a quarterback. It has been widely reported that Jared Goff out of California will be the Los Angeles Rams choice at first overall. If this holds to be true the Eagles would be looking at FCS quarterback Carson Wentz from North Dakota State University. I’m not going to compare the two, that was already done. Check it out. […]

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